Apparatus for unloading railroad cars and the like



T. D. BORAM A ril 2, 1968 Filed April 8, 1966 FIG.|

FIG.

Arfa/P/l/f/ United States Patent 3,375,942 APPARATUS FOR UNLOA'DING RAILROAD CARS AND THE LIKE Thomas D. Boram, Northumberland, Pa., assignor to ACF Industries, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 541,147 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-83.28)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railroad hopper car is provided with outlets in the bottom of each hopper at both sides of the car and liquid inlets at the bottom and top of each hopper. The intake of a pump is connected to one hopper outlet, the outlet of the pump is connected to the top inlet of the same hopper and to a discharge conduit for the material in the hopper, and a water supply conduit is connected to the inlet at the bottom of the hopper. Each hopper has a motor driven agitator with oppositely directed impellers at the bottom of the hopper. Valves are provided for controlling the supply of water to the bottom inlet, for recycling liquid from the connected outlet to the inlet at the top of the hopper, and finally pumping the liquid through the discharge conduit.

The invention relates to apparatus for unloading comminuted or other material from a container, particularly a railroad car, by forming a slurry of the material and then removing the slurry.

The unloading of pulverant or comminuted material from railroad cars and other transportable containers has presented very considerable difficulties. Fluidizing by air under pressure has proven practical for unloading some materials, but materials which tend to cake or solidify do not lend themselves to fluidizing. Another method of unloading pulverant material consists of forming a liquid suspension or solution of the material and then pumping it out of the container. This method is disclosed in Patent No. 2,827,185. The object of the present invention is to improve the unloading of bulk material by the liquidizing method, particularly from railroad cars.

Covered hopper cars are generally loaded through top hatches, there being one or more hatches for each compartment of the car. According to the invention slurry forming apparatus is provided at the bottom or outlet of each hopper. This apparatus includes a specially effective agitator, a water inlet and a slurry outlet at the bottom of the hopper, and a slurry inlet at the top of the hopper. Each agitator preferably includes a plurality of impellers arranged to produce a flow pattern which prevents accumulations of the bulk material on the sides of the hoppers. The apparatus referred to above is adapted to be connected to suitable track-side equipment for supplying water and pumping the slurry to recycle it until it is completed and then discharge it.

A general object of the invention is to increase the speed and thoroughness of liquidizing and discharging bulk materials, particularly from transportable containers such as railroad hopper cars.

Another object of the invention is to discharge comminuted material from a container in the form of a slurry using only simple apparatus.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description and the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a covered hopper railroad car with a portion broken away to show one of the hoppers.

FIG. 2 is a transverse view with a portion of one of the compartments of the car broken away to show its interior and the connection "to the slurry forming and discharging apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bottom of a hopper and a car carried motor for the agitator.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the bottom portion of a hopper.

Referring to the drawing, the railroad car 10 is a covered hopper car having a plurality of hoppers 12. 'Such cars are frequently usedfor'hauling comminuted materials which are soluble or suspendible in a liquid to form a slurry, and which are useable as a slurry at the point of delivery. Sugar, salt and titanium dioxide are examples of such materials. For reasons of economy, his desirable to ship the material dry and form the slurry by adding the liquid, usually water, at the unloading point. The difficulties of unloading solid materials are known and apparent. In some cases fluidizing ishelpful, but materials which may cake, bridge, or solidify do not 'lend themselves to fluidizing alone, and provide serious unloading problems. These problems may be solved by the present invention with respect to those materials which can "be formed into a slurry.

Hoppers 12 have converging forward and rear sides 14 and 16 and lateral sides or walls 17 and 18, which also converge at their lower ends/The bottom of the hopper has a transverse .trough 20 smoothly joiningthe four sides or walls of the hopper. An agitator 22 is mounted in trough 20. The agitator includes a shaft 24 extending through stufling boxes 26, '28 mounted on walls 17, 18 by plates 30, 32 and supported in bearings 34, 36. Shaft 24 carries impellers 38, 40, the blades of which are oriented to cause an outward flow in the directions indicated by flow patterns 42. Shaft 24 has pulleys 41 at its ends to adapt it to be connected to a motor at the unloading site,

or, alternatively, to a motor 43 mounted adjacent the hopper. Pulleys 41 are provided at both ends of shaft 24 so that easy connection to a motor at the unloading site may be made regardless of which side of the car is toward the siding having the unloading apparatus. It is for the same reason that discharge outlets 45 and 46 are provided at opposite sides, although only one of them is needed at any one time. It will be noted that when the agitator 22 is driven from one pulley 41, rather than the other, the direction of drive must be reversed in order to maintain the desired opposite and outward flow pattern 42.

Trough 20 of the hopper has a water inlet 44 and discharge outlets 45, 46 on opposite sides of the car. The inlet and outlets are provided with suitable removable covers 47 of a known type, only one of which is shown. Cover 47 fits on an adaptor 48 which may be welded to the inlet 44 and outlets 45, 46, and is provided with overlapping rings 49 which may be padlocked together to lock cover 47 on adaptor 48. Inlet 44- is connectible at the unloading site to a water conduit 50 having a valve 51 and Water meter 52. One of the discharge outlets 45 or 46 is connected through valve 54 to pump 56. The output of pump 56 includes a pipe 58 having a valve 60 connected to inlet 62 at the top of hopper 12. The output of pump 56 is also connected through valve 64 to a discharge conduit 66, which will generally communicate with a storage tank or utilization means, not shown.

When the loaded car 10 arrives at its destination covers 47 are removed from the inlet 44 and one outlet such as 45 and the piping connections shown in FIG. 2 are made. The agitator 22 is connected to a motor, unless it is permanently connected to a motor 43 carried by the car. Valve 51 is then opened and after a sufiicient amount of water is admitted, as indicated by the meter, the motor connected to agitator 22 is turned on. Valves 54 and 60 are then opened, while valve 64 is kept closed, and pump 56 is started up. A slurry begins to form and it is re- 3 cycled by the pump until it attains a desired consistency and uniformity. When meter 52 indicates the total required amount of water, valve 51 is closed, while the agitation continues. When the mixture is ready for evacuation, valve 64 is opened and valve 60 may be closed to permit the mixture to be pumped out.

The above described procedure is applied to each hopper of the car until all are emptied. The system enables a constant repeatable density of slurry to be obtained and enables eflicient unloading of materials which are otherwise difi'icult to unload. The oppositely directed impellers produce thrusts which substantially balance out and impose little thrust on bearings 34, 36 and stutfing boxes 26, 28. Moreover, the upward flow along walls 17 and 18 keep them clear of accumulations of the cornminuted material which might otherwise tend to collect on their lower sloping portions.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, it will be evident that variations thereof may be made without department from the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing material from a railroad car having a plurality of containers in the form of covered hoppers, the hoppers comprising outlets in the bottom of each hopper at both sides of the car, and a liquid inlet at the bottom of each hopper and another liquid inlet at the top thereof, an agitator including a horizontal shaft extending transversely across the bottom of each hopper and a pair of similar but oppositely directed impellers mounted on the shaft in each hopper for causing liquid fiow in opposite directions, each agitator shaft extending through the opposite walls of the hopper in which it is located and having means'on both ends thereof for connecting it to a driving motor.

2. Apparatus comprising a railroad car having a plurality of containers in the form of covered hoppers, the hoppers comprising outlets in the bottom of each hopper at both sides of the car and a liquid inlet at the bottom of each hopper and another liquid inlet at the top thereof for recycling liquid through the containers, an agitator including a horizontal shaft extending transversely across the bottom of each hopper and a pair of similar but oppositely directed impellers mounted On the shaft in each hopper for causing liquid How in opposite directions, each agitator shaft having means for connecting it to a driving motor.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 including means for supplying water to the inlet at the bottom of a hopper for liquifying said material, a pump, conduit means connecting one of the outlets of that hopper to the intake of the pump and conduit means connecting the output of the pump to the inlet at the top of the hopper, a discharge conduit connected to the output of the pump, and manually adjustable valves in said conduits for controlling the supply of water, for recycling liquid through the hopper, and finally pumping the liquid from the hopper through the discharge conduit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,523,229 9/1950 Norbom 2l4-83.28 2,635,859 4/1953 Dreyfus 25926 XR 2,827,185 3/1958 Feigin 2l483.28 2,901,133 8/1959 Weller 214-8328 3,105,721 10/1963 Collins et al. 214-8328 XR GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

A. I. MAKAY, Assistant Examiner. 

